How will our strike force look come September?

Seemingly, Modibo Maiga is about to swap East London for Saudi Arabia and end his three year spell at Upton Park. Although he spent half of that time on loan at QPR and Metz, Maiga did show very rare glimpses of quality in matches against Southampton, Chelsea and as recently as this season with his solo goal against Bournemouth.

Many West Ham fans have never really been behind the Mali international due to his lack of consistency. His quality is there but we rarely saw much of it. Perhaps he has been underestimated by Sam Allardyce and clearly by Slaven Bilic, who has supposedly sanctioned his sale despite our major striking issues. But now attention must turn to a replacement for our only fit striker.

Simone Zaza: Juventus

The major favourite to solve our attacking conundrum is Simone Zaza. Having broken into the Italian national team last season after his success with Sassuolo, Juventus snapped the forward up this summer, however he is currently a 4^th choice striker behind Alvaro Morata, Paulo Dybala, another new recruit, and former West Ham transfer target Fernando Llorente.

The question mark in the deal, which has been reported by many reliable sources such as @ExWHUemployee as ‘close’, is whether or not the deal will have an option to buy. I don’t think we will be able to match or surpass the reported fee Juventus paid for Zaza, approximately €18million, but Gianluca Di Marzio has suggested the option will be included.

Burak Yilmaz: Galatasaray

A reported back up target is Turkish international, Burak Yilmaz. Slaven Bilic is an admirer of the experienced forward but I understand the club will not make a move for the proven goal machine unless other targets fail. This is due to his age and the price that Galatasaray are demanding for the striker.

Wissam Ben Yedder: FC Toulouse

West Ham have recently been linked with the Frenchman who has scored 44 goals in 122 appearances in all competitions. Again, Wissam is not our first choice but should other targets fail this could become a possibility.

It is reported that it would take a fee of around £6million to tempt Toulouse to let the striker go and that could prove a stumbling block. The 25 year-old forward stands at 5ft 7in and is from Tunisian descent and has played 3 times for the French U21 squad but is yet to represent the senior side

The Best of the Rest:

Talented players from abroad such as Moussa Sow and Breel Embolo have been branded as possible solutions but these deals seem unlikely to happen. Javier Hernandez was and still is the number one target despite Manchester United and Louis Van Gaal’s reluctance to sell and if something changes on this front, expect some movement for the club on this transfer.

The public misinterpretation of words between David Sullivan and Charlie Austin has put a spanner in the works of a deal being completed, but that was a long shot anyway when you hear the views of the chairmen about Austin. Loic Remy is still a target but one that is very unrealistic and the rumours of Emmanuel Adebayor joining the club on loan shows no sign of dying out.

My personal choice would be Javier Hernandez or Breel Embolo as they are players that really excite me. Austin and Remy would also please me but I strongly doubt either player will move to us before the end of the window. Ben Yedder is an option and a proven goal scorer in one of Europe’s top 5 leagues and Simone Zaza would also represent a good signing should we get it over the line.

I fully expect at least one of these strikers to join the club and only time will tell which one the board and the manager decide to go with. I also expect West Ham to sign a defensive midfielder and/or a winger in the next week, with Victor Moses, Adnan Januzaj and Aaron Lennon the wingers mentioned and Alex Song and Joey Barton being touted as the defensive midfield options being discussed.

Hopefully we will get players in time for the game against Liverpool so that we can win at Anfield for the first time since Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst scored in  a 1-2 victory in September 1963, a season that ended with us winning the FA Cup for the first time.

Join the conversation below. Who would you choose and why? Is it right to let Maiga go?